New York

is anything good happening next week? i don't know how much free time i'll have, but recommendations for stuff happening mon/tue night, or just good places to hang out near le parker meridien (where i'm staying) would be much appreciated in case i find myself with spare hours...

Tuesday - Q-Tip at Nokia Theatre (Times Square); El Guincho at le poisson rouge (Greenwich Village)

You are right in the middle of the most garish, crowded bit of Midtown but on the plus side just over the road from Central Park which is worth a half-hour wander round. The bit down from Union Square to the Lower East Side was my favourite bit of Manhattan just to wander round, and it would be very difficult for even you to get lost.

Somewhere in my Gmail I have a load of eating and drinking recommendations from Tracer as well that I can forward to you.

Bar Americain (a dramatic-looking restaurant that does good haute regional American food) is 5 blocks away. Norma's, inside the hotel, is considered one of the best brunch places in the city (not cheap).

you're 2-3 blocks from the Carnegie Deli (Jewish deli for enormous corned beef and/or pastrami sandwiches, etc.), which is not the best, but the most famous of its type

a great brunch place right where i'm staying? this is fantastic news. thanks for the recommendations gabbneb (got yr emails matt, cheers) - i will take note and use if time permits

also, the lobby of your hotel contains Burger Joint, one of the best burgers in NYC

:D

what good bars are in the area?

love the Burger Joint. follow the neon burger sign

"good" bars, I'd probably head downtown. You are right in the middle of the most garish, crowded bit of Midtown

There are loads of good bars as you head down towards Greenwich Village or towards the East Village from Union Square. Most of them further downtown seem pretty passable though.

If you are only there a couple of days I'd recommend getting the subway down to somewhere in the 20s and then just wandering south and getting a feel for the streets, taking in any particular landmarks you want to see.

The bit you're in is roughly the equivalent of staying somewhere between Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street, with all the horror that entails.

what good bars are in the area?

you probably want to go elsewhere for that, certainly if you want to hang out with ILXors, as most places in the neighborhood cater to wealthy business types, tourists/out-of-towners, and/or workingmen. but i'll mention:
- Salon de Ning at the Peninsula Hotel (outdoor space is the biggest draw, so probably more of a summer phenomenon)
- ava lounge in the dream hotel (same; less upscale)
- downstairs bar at Tao restaurant, popularized by Sex and the City, and probably filled with midwestern tourists, but might be up your alley
- the Townhouse, a v upscale, clubby midtown gay bar.
- the (classic) king cole bar in the st. regis hotel (where the bloody mary was either invented or introduced to the US)

another attractive and expensive nearby restaurant is the modern, inside the MoMA, with separate bar and main rooms and alsatian-inspired cuisine. at further reaches of midtown, the Grand Central Oyster Bar is a classic NY place amid the commuter rush of Grand Central Terminal with great oysters and decent, fairly simple seafood. GCT also has the Campbell Apartment bar.

hey matt can you send me tracer's tips too? looks like i'll be going to NYC for work from time to time and will be staying in that same garish area (was at the hudson last time which was the smallest room i've even been in!). the office is in rockefeller ctr, and i fear there's really nothing around there's that's not touristy crap. i'll be happy to venture around.

if you are at rock ctr and don't mind walking over to 9th ave, there are lots of little restaurants/bars. uncle nick's ouzaria is good greek tapas, next door to vintage, which has nice cocktails/"martinis" that are $10-12 instead of $15-20. uncle vanya on 54th is also nom and has infused vodkas (though if that's your thing, the vodka selection is better at the russian samovar).

none of these places are "fancy" or especially nice, but i find the quality to be pretty good and not overly expensive. if you want shi-shi atmosphere, these are not the places to go, though (with the exception of vintage) they have a lot of character.

i'm not that fancy ;) i'm sure i'll see shi-shi places with work people, but when i'm on my own that's a different story...

the waitstaff at uncle vanya is kind of lolinsovietrussiacaviareatsyouawesome.

i like cheap & full of character just as much as fancy atmosphere, but waiters like that (and infused vodkas) are the kind of quality which swing a place for me

i was just reading internets reviews and the consensus seems to be that the appetizers are better at the vodka room or russian samovar. i can not speak to that because i have only had vodka at the samovar, but i had a really nice experience at uncle vanya. also lol @ chowhound.

god i miss all those great bars in the east village

oh yeah, there's the bar at the Hudson too. if you stay there, the Cafeteria's an obvious eating choice, but Whole Foods in the Time-Warner Center is a great resource for less chi-chi, cheaper and/or solo eating

lol the new aq kafe near col circle has ikea food in pain quotidien setting. it look intersting for casual dining. i had take out coffee - not bad!

Wholefoods in the TWC is also a good way to loose your mind in a 400 person queue.

it moves pretty fast, though!

the lady at the flower counter made me 2 LOVELY bouquets that got lots of compliments the other day for under $50.

new aq kafe near col circle

!

pain quotidien setting

meaning it's not colorful like scandinavia house? i kinda hate pain quotidien.

it's more dimly lit than pq, so it feels warmer and less cafeteria-ish. i have not been to scandinavia house, but the color palette was mostly neutral with clean lines.

not really on topic, but aq cafe makes me think of aquavit which makes me think of the smorgasboard brunch. A+++++ (although probably not if you hate herring).

my parents love that stuff. i hate herring.

This is all pretty Tourist 101, but if i were in NYC for the first time and staying in midtown, I would certainly go to Rockefeller Center and check out the skating rink/tree, the Top of the Rock observation deck (at least $20), the murals inside, and Saks Fifth Avenue (49th-50th). (there's also the, uh, Radio City Christmas Spectacular; a tour also gets you inside). From there, especially if you're into architecture, you could head East past McKim, Mead & White's Villard Houses (Madison b/w 50th and 51st, best seen at night) over to Park Ave for the view down (right) to the 1929 Helmsley Building (best at night) and up to the '50s-era Seagram Building (Mies/Philip Johnson, between 52nd and 53rd) and Lever House (53rd-54th) (both better daytime).

Central Park is definitely a good idea - head up 5th Ave and enter the park at the Southeast corner. Follow the path up to the far end of the lake and loop left around Wollman skating rink.

Times Square can definitely be annoyingly crowded/touristy like Piccadilly Circus, but it's also bigger and brighter, especially this time of year, and I'd recommend heading down Broadway at night to 42nd, and maybe looping around the theater district to 8th Ave (where you get a tiny taste of the old Times Square) on 44th and 45th. Follow 44th East to Grand Central Terminal and its great main hall.

btw, if you're into modern dance at all, you're 2 blocks from City Center, the major venue in NY for same. Beginning next Wednesday, they've got Alvin Ailey with Wynton Marsalis/the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

ed koch, ilxor

I just want to say how very much I enjoyed visiting New York in October to see Echo & The Bunnymen, but not just that, I bonded with the city in some small way there in Manhattan and I never thought I would. I had a dream when I was a teenager that I was walking NYC streets and the idea of visiting New York always scared me because of that, but it turned out that I loved it. Thanks much and I hope maybe one day I will return there. It's nice to feel at peace with something that you previously feared.

NY loves you too, Bimble!

That said, I was planning to take a nice long walk into Park Slope to pick up all the goods I need for the week (passover and regular shopping) but blech, what nasty rains.

For the people who live in NY, I always wondered this: how in the hell do you afford it? What do you do for a living? And is there such a thing as a middle-class there?

I've always wanted to live there, but always assumed it was out-of-this-world expensive and never likely to happen. Do most of you live in Jersey or something?

i am moving away to live some place cheaper!

is there such a thing as a middle-class there?

getting closer and closer to "poor"

yeah. i would say this is not a good time to move to ny.

unless you would like to rent my room!

d'oh. I want to move there eventually but there's no way I could make enough money right now, I think.

you spend more money but you make more money. You also live in a room in a an apt shared with many other people and often don't have much space for the same amount of money other people in other places pay to live in larger apartments. It's just about what you're comfortable with. You also maybe don't save much money because you spend more on rent then you should. Depending on what kind of work you can do, there are still certain jobs and those jobs will still pay more then in other places.

Thanks everyone for the responses. My dream may not match up with reality. So I guess it comes down to is this: how many roommates can you handle? - LOL

For what it's worth, I'm just your average Joe-Blow who works basic office-jobs, never having gone past a bachelor's degree. I don't make a lot of money, just middle-class where I live (which would probably be considered dirt-poor in NY).

i do it by sharing a small studio apt with my girlfriend, eating at home a lot, packing a lunch, getting my transportation comped by my job, doing laundry at my parents house, stealing internet from neighbors, not owning a tv, and pirating all my tv and movies

i do it by being a broke-ass bitch always on the verge of a serious situation but having fun anyway

see the thing for me is that in my field, i will make the same money somewhere else, so...

also happy hour specials and owning a flask

tehresa and flask otm!

the other obvious rule is...how far do you want to live from manhattan? how desirable a neighborhood? For relatively little money you can live in parts of Queens and Brooklyn that are totally pleasant and cheap and awesome, and you're a 20 minute train ride from parts of Queens and Brooklyn that are totally cool and hip and a 40 minute train ride from Manhattan, where everybody wants to go for some reason.

Lower Manhattan is just French ppl and some Scandinavians

Can someone please lower the tax rate in France so these horrible people stop coming to Brooklyn?

sad http://www.grubstreet.com/2016/08/times-squares-seor-frogs-has-closed.html

Times Square hasn't been good since Mars 2112 closed

goodbye Houston Street Lenin

http://evgrieve.com/2016/09/the-fall-of-lenin-iconic-statue-removed.html

Tapping into the ilx hive mind, heading to NYC soon for a family trip. My son wants to do a lot of the touristy stuff of course, so we'll be hitting up Ellis Island, Central Park, Broadway (Hadestown and Sweeney Todd - son is so beyond excited to see one of the Stranger Things kids in the latter), etc.

Will be staying in Chelsea area and wife will be working in Financial District a few days - looking for book/record store recs. Are there any of the latter left in Manhattan (doubt we'll have much time to head to Brooklyn or anywhere else this trip)? Planning to hit up 30 Rock anyway and I understand Rough Trade reopened there for some reason, but happy to hear any other recs. Also happy to hear any food spots in Chelsea area - keep in mind we'll have an 11 year old with us, but he is an adventurous eater.

here are some very standard recs

bookstores - strand, mcnally jackson, bluestockings (a little out of the way from you but employee-owned anarcho LBGTQ coop), printed matter, book-off

record stores - feel like a-1 records or academy are your best best for finding something good and reasonably priced. otherwise, there are a bunch of small random shops that are very expensive all over town.

food - chelsea market is touristy but good, otherwise chelsea is kind of a desert, maybe shukette? better bet would be to walk down a few blocks and go to the west village (lot of choices but $$$) or macdougal street, or an even better bet is to head over to the east village or chinatown. if you're going to 30 rock, urban hawker is kind of a fun food hall, otherwise there are a lot of restaurants in the area that cater to the business lunch crowd. this is probably the hardest thing to recommend without some kind of forcing function, just see whatever's hot on eater.com at the moment.

Thanks! That is all super helpful. yeah we'll definitely be roaming around the city, just good to have some ideas close to where we are staying. Strand was already for sure on my list.

I'll be there tonight to Friday, it's an ILX Chicago to NYC exodus!

Go to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum!

Didn't make it to the Tenement Museum, couldn't convince the family. But we had a great time, my son is already asking when we can go again. Didn't hurt that he was able to get a selfie with Dustin from Stranger Things after the performance of Sweeney Todd we saw, and that he got to visit Flight Club, an apparently super popular sneaker store.

A few thoughts:
best food was Bazar Tapas on 26th, Black Tap (I loved the burgers, kid loved the insane shakes), Anita Gelato, Stone Street Tavern
Academy Records was great, found some good stuff at reasonable prices
Rough Trade at 30 Rock was fine I guess? decent selection, but packed with random tourists completely uninterested in looking at the selection (due to the location), also hate when these newer shops stock their CD shelves so you can only see the spines, makes it hard as hell to find anything and gives you a sore damn neck (lol, old)
shout out to the super nice bartender at Fraunces Tavern that let us bring the history loving kid in after 11 pm to look around and gave him a tour
Strand lived up to the reputation, had to come back a second time due to being kinda overwhelmed the first time on a crowded weekend day
McNally Jackson was really nice! obvs not as deep as Strand, but had a cool vibe, super friendly employees and a thoughtful approach to curation
Hadestown was fine, but honestly don't get the insane hype
kid loved the audio tour at Ellis Island
so glad to finally get to experience the Guggenheim
High Line kinda sucked tbh, we went at 9 am on a Tuesday and it was already so packed we could only kinda shuffle along
Felt really out of place at the ritzy Hudson Yards mall thing, but The Edge was cool
Fuck JK Rowling forever and I kind of felt gross about the Harry Potter store when we randomly stumbled upon it, but hard to argue with the absolute magic in my son's eyes as he got excited about all the wands and butterbeer and everything

all in all, A+++++++ visit would recommend, fuck the "NYC is scary and violent" narrative. can't wait to go back when my wife is less tied to her work and we can hit up some of the other boroughs.

Reviving Jon’s question above. We’re bringing our 3 teenage girls to NYC this weekend, also staying in Chelsea. They say they don’t want to book tickets for any shows and would rather wander south on shopping adventures. I’m into that but would welcome any ilxor endorsements or recs for exhibits or other events that don’t involve Times Sq or Central Park madness. South of Chelsea would be a plus but I’m shaky on NYC geography and am not picky on that point.

I'm pretty out of the loop on stuff, but I know there's a Harry Smith exhibit at the Whitney right now that looks pretty cool.

staten island ferry is free; brooklyn bridge park for views of LM (accessable via A/C to high st; F to York - CHECK YOUR WEEKEND TRAIN REPAIR INFO). Chinatown for curios and breakable stuff and good eats (Tasty Hand Pulled is my jam). Outdoor Holiday markets at union sq (near the Strand) and Bryant Park.

Wandering shopping from Bleecker St at christopher, all the way over to 10th and B and down to Reade or so (excite 4 u 2 b poor). Your garden variety brand names/flagship stores are on lower broadway so if ur looking for unique you won't find it there.

Central park is enormous and once you get about 70th st or so the crowds thin out dramatically (I would advise going to any of the 110th st stops and walking DOWN to the reservoir or belvedere castle)

If I knew what they actually liked I may be able to help more.

https://americanindian.si.edu/visit/reopening-ny

https://www.mocanyc.org/

https://www.govisland.com/things-to-do/events/winter-solstice-celebration

the new museum is cool and it is right on the bowery. https://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions

for shopping, i recommend that area, like elizabeth street, mott street, etc. a little off from the main soho drag with the mall-like stores.

Walk south on the high line

Hudson yards is worth a trip, you can get to it from the high line as well

Thanks peeps